Monday, October 29, 2012

I decided to write a quick post since we will most likely lose power and Internet for a while because of the current hurricane and it has been a while since I last posted. I started to write a post about Felt United a while ago but never got back to it. I will finish it later since it was getting to be philosophical and I want to be able to think about it more than I can with the wind howling. I will just share some photos of felt finished since then.

I finished the piece for the Granby Land Trust show. It was declined. I have had that happen enough with various shows that it does not bother me much anymore.

Here is a detail showing how much I built up the surface on this one. I used silk cocoons and wool neps and burs for the rocks.

This is what the layout looked like before I wet felted it.

Here it is after wet felting and before I did any needle felting.

I did more dyeing of wool and silk. I found I needed more grays after doing the previous landscape that I posted about last time. Here is what I came up with.

I also did some pokeberry dyeing. I was not really successful but I got some interesting results.

The silk was from the first batch I did which I over cooked. The locks took the color from the second batch but even after many times rinsing they are still loosing color so the jury is still out.

Somehow I managed to get this grey silk and pink roving from the same pot. I was trying to follow Carol Leigh's instructions to see if I could get a more lasting color since color from many berries is very fugitive. I found it interesting that pokeberry ink was used to write the Constitution of the United States and it is still legible though the color faded to brown.

My friend Joei came over so we could go to the New York Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck and while she was here we played with doing collage nuno felt landscapes. I didn't like mine so I turned it into a small clutch.

I have been felting some small pieces to sell for the holidays since I have a few more shows to do. Here is a sampling.

And now I will sign off as the sudden gusts of wind cause the windows in this room to make crackling noises, which causes my heart to beat faster. Time to do some felting to get the adrenaline out...maybe down in the basement ;)

Thursday, October 4, 2012

I have been doing quite a bit of felting AND business stuff lately. And that is a good thing as there are several events coming up that I need to make work for. One of those is the Granby Land Trust show that I have been submitting pieces to the last few years. I needed/wanted some more reference photos of the area since our work has to have been inspired by a certain place. This year we can do anywhere in the Farmington Valley so I went out to some places in Canton to take photos of the Farmington River. It was a really nice day for me....walking in the woods, sitting by the river watching fish jump, seeing the eagles fly by looking for said fish; and the weather was beautiful. I have a few photos that may work as a reference for a piece...

My first deadline is for Felt United which is this coming Saturday. I have been working on two pieces. I had two different ideas for this years theme of FIRE and could not decide between them so I decided to try both. I will post better photos later but here is a sneak-peek.

My friend Joei and I finally got together for a weekend. It has been a long time since we saw each other. We both had busy summers; she spent many days in Russia on 'the felting trip of a lifetime' with Rod and Karolina. She really tried to get me to go but I decided that I could not quite swing it. I am jealous after hearing all about her experiences. They stayed with a family out on the steppe near the Altai mountains (yup in Siberia) and slept in traditional yurts. Her talking about eating the sheep's head soup however did not make me jealous. If she ever blogs about it I will put a link in here.
I thought we might felt while we were doing all of catching up but Joei came with an agenda, and this thing....

She is turning into a knitter and spinner! She wanted to ply some yarn that she spun so that she could then dye it. She is already thinking Christmas presents, ugg! And the yarn she was working on is going to become socks for yours truly! So Saturday was dye day, and we did a lot. She over-dyed some roving that was a bit bright for her taste. In the photo the 'before' roving is on the right.

The same color used to over-dye that was used on my sock yarn...I love the color.

While Joei was working on her things I was dyeing some threads and ribbon for stitching on my felts.

And some pieces of silk...

some roving for my flower classes...

and a couple of chiffon scarves.

We also played with a technique using markers and alcohol. Joei's came out lovely.

Mine was not so lovely.

After Joei left I did do some felting. Not a 'should do' piece; an 'I wanna' piece. I am not sure what caused me to finally try this image that has been on my inspiration board for so long but I really enjoyed doing it.

I was imagining something along the lines of a tonalist painting but I wanted the colors to be even more subtle. I may play with that image some more but I need to do more dyeing to get the colors I would need. But there are other pieces that must get done first.

About Me

Serendipity brought feltmaking into my life at a time when I needed to reconnect with the past and find a way to express my artistic side beyond my rigid dictionary illustration work. The softness of the fibers, the feel of the soapy water, the magic moment when the loose fibers become felt appealed to my unfulfilled need to use my fingers to manipulate the medium. It often feels as though I am just a facilitator for the art, as though the pieces have their own need to be created. There is a kind of conversation that flows from my mind and through my hands into the wool and back again, and during this exchange the questioning mind quiets. My landscapes reflect this sense of peace, creating worlds that invite the viewer to enter and rest in solitude. Through light and shade, the flowing organic lines, and the play of the varying colors the rush and rigidity of daily life falls away. The incredible range of techniques and materials that can be used in felting sustains my enthusiasm and the unpredictability of the way the fibers will blend has encouraged me to let go of the notion that a good artist is one that can render objects that appear realistic. Felting frees my soul.